Book 2 Chapter 10 - Classified Account Book
Kou Zhong jumped down from a giant rock about three zhang high. ‘Whump!' he landed hard on the beach; dizzy, and could not tell one object from another.
On the side, Xu Ziling squatted and looked down; with a bitter laugh he said, "Our Beautiful Shifu was right. Her ‘Bird Crossing Technique' is basically unleashing the way of circulating qi and taking a breath; with our so-called peerless divine skill it is a totally different thing, as if the two will never be mixed together. Looks like our qinggong is just a sweet dream, from now on we can just knock it off and lay it down to rest.”
Kou Zhong turned over to look up to him and said, "Can you not concede that quickly? Remember our great theory! We can unleash the true qi within our body, and the only way to unite the inner and outer into one entity is by forgetting ourselves.”
Distressed, Xu Ziling said, "The problem is that were just common folks, we can't to reach the state where we are able to jump high or leap low every time. Hey! I have a very stupid idea.”
Kou Zhong suddenly sat up and said, "Since you can think of an idea for such a difficult problem like this, it must not be a stupid idea.”
"Do you remember that strange encounter when we jumped from Dong Ming Pai ship into the sea?” Xu Ziling asked.
"I can't forget it even in my dreams!” Kou Zhong replied, "We were nearly drowned to death.”
With a serious face Xu Ziling said, "But not only we did not die, we also acquired the ability to breathe under water. It is clear that when we are in some kind of desperate situation, we can naturally, like Niang said, bring out the innate quality that is buried deep within us. This hidden treasure has been opened by the fantastic skill of the ‘Secret to Long Life', but only in life and death crisis this hidden treasure can be forced to come out.”
Kou Zhong looked up to the boulder from which he had just jumped down; his countenance changed as he said, "You are not suggesting that we jump down together from a hundred zhang cliff, are you?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Xu Ziling said, "What are we afraid of? If underneath is the ocean, we won't fall to our death.”
Kou Zhong shook his head, "No, can't do,” he said, "Only if there is a risk of our body torn and our bones crushed will our true qi be forced to come out.”
This time Xu Ziling's countenance changed. "Are you serious?” he asked.
With solemn expression Kou Zhong said, "A hundred zhang cliff is just an exaggeration. I am afraid even our Beautiful Shifu will fall until her jade body perishes and her fragrance vanishes; ten or so zhang should be enough. Ay! Xiao Ling! Let Laoge [old brother, referring to self] try it first! If I really fall to my death, just cremate me, and then bring my ashes back to that small valley where Niang is buried. If your heart to become Wulin's martial art expert is dead, you can be a good chef quietly; and if you have a son in the future, just change his name to Xu Zhong, to commemorate your great brother!”
Xu Ziling's voice cracked, "Tell me you are joking!”
Kou Zhong shook his head, "After seeing Yuwen Huagu, Du Fuwei, that kind of people, you will no longer be willing to live a dull life. After coming across beautiful women like Niang or our Beautiful Shifu, it will be very difficult to take an ordinary woman as my wife. I really want to fight this challenge; if I win, it's very possible that I will master an exceptional qinggong, but if I lose, I will go down the Yellow Springs[1] to find Niang and show a bit of filial piety. Do you understand? My good brother.”
Xu Ziling sat down dejectedly; but suddenly he burst in laughter, "You are always greatly persuasive; if you want to die, let's die together.”
The two boys stood at the edge of a high cliff. Looking down at the underbrush and scattered rocks dozen or so zhang below, they hesitated.
"Seems to be a bit high,” Kou Zhong said in a low voice, "We are really stupid; we forgot to ask Beautiful Shifu how many zhang a beginner martial art master can jump.”
Xu Ziling looked up toward the magnificent starry sky. "Shall we go back to sleep?” he asked with a wry smile.
Kou Zhong took a deep breath, closed his eyes and said, "We'll count to three, and then we jump together. Just remember to … ay, don't try to think about anything, let the nature take its course.”
"One!” Xu Ziling shouted.
"Two!” Kou Zhong caught on.
And then the two of them screamed together, "Three!”
Four legs kicked the ground, like a bullet the two boys left the edge of the cliff to enter the empty air outside the cliff.
In that split second, all kinds of profound, unforgettable memories, such as: they were playing and swimming in the stream and met Fu Junchuo, her death, they were being carried by Du Fuwei as he rushed across the open field, strolling along the street with Susu, being treated in a cold manner by Qingqing at the brothel, the stunning beauty of Yun Yuzhen when they first met her; were flitting through their mind like flashes of lightning, or like the flying sparks of a flint, followed by a blank. And then they started to sense that they were falling, fast.
In the instant they were hovering between life and death, suddenly they were completely without any access to external qi, however, their internal breathing was like a torch. ‘Bang!' It lit up with an explosion.
Just like a dream.
All of a sudden, they understood the secret to speed up the movement of true qi within their body. They must first sever the outer physical breathing before unleashing the true qi inside the body. This is precisely what the Taoist School said about innate breathing.
The two boys' body was like ant marching, the true qi went back and forth endlessly. Xu Ziling's started from Yong Quan going up, Kou Zhong's from Tian Ling passing down.
At the same time they remembered Beautiful Shifu's Bird Crossing Technique, quickly they raised a mouthful of true qi, their palms pushed down, and applied the ‘adverse power'. Immediately there was an opposing force in vertical direction; unexpectedly their descending speed experienced substantially reduction, and there was still enough force left over to push them back about half a chi up. Turning a somersault in the air, ‘wham' they landed on a pile of thick underbrush so hard that all they saw in their eyes were stars.
Kou Zhong was the first to crawl up. "Niang!” he shouted loudly, "We succeed!”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling finally made an incomparable step in their martial art journey, a crucial breakthrough. Although there was still a considerable distance from the level of true martial art experts, but it was an important step in the right direction.
One day Xu Ziling suddenly had a weird idea; he pulled Kou Zhong along to train martial art at the bottom of the sea. Trouble is, they could not get a stable footing. Thereupon they each tied a big rock on their leg, and this seemed to improve their situation.
Gradually they discovered that they could channel their qi and focused it in their legs, so much so that they were able to withstand the attack of the undercurrent, hence they did not need to rely on the rocks anymore.
With this discovery, they began to experiment rising up and sinking down in the water, which made their training more delightful.
Back to the dry ground, after the underwater experience, they were able to train the Bird Crossing Technique until the ‘what the heart wishes, the hand accomplishes' level. They could easily leap over ordinary a zhang, or perhaps two zhang tall trees, and on the way down, they could even show off a variety of poses and fancy postures.
When they sparred against each other with weapons, they followed the same steps to gradually able to channel their qi onto the weapons.
Tonight was the big night, the appointed day for them to meet Yun Yuzhen. The two boys dressed neatly and waited at the beach.
After sitting down, Kou Zhong thought for a moment and said, "We must guard against the people's heart. I forgot who said that; was it Niang, or Du Fuwei?”
"I think it was Niang,” Xu Ziling replied, "You don't seem to trust our Beautiful Shifu.”
Kou Zhong said, "Wulin's martial art masters are always enigmatic, we can't let people see through how much weight we carry [i.e. importance]; therefore, it would be best if we hide our true power, don't let Beautiful Shifu find out we have mastered her Bird Crossing Technique. Supposing she really wants to harm us, we still have a bit of asset to flee.”
Xu Ziling nodded his agreement; he turned his eyes toward the ocean and said, "Look! Look!”
A dot of light appeared on the surface of the ocean; the dot rapidly growing bigger. A fast boat passed to the left and swerved to the right among the reefs and came to the shallow water.
The two boys focused their eyes. Very soon they could see the boat clearly. Four men were rowing the boat, on the bow stood a young woman wearing white warrior outfit, but she was not Yun Yuzhen.
The girl soared to the air; in just two leaps she already arrived in front the two boys, and spoke respectfully, "Xiao Bi [little maid servant] Yun Zhi, on Bangzhu Miss Yun Yuzhen's order to invite two Gongzi to get on the boat.”
They did not anticipate this move from Yun Yuzhen. After exchanging glances, they followed Yun Zhi to board the small boat.
Aboard the three-mast ship, Yun Zhi led the two boys into the main cabin to see Yun Yuzhen, who was sitting in a plush chair. The two boys sat up straight in the chairs to her left and right, and Yun Zhi withdrew, leaving only the three people in the cabin.
Yun Yuzhen smiled, "How's your training?” she asked.
Assuming an ashamed look, Kou Zhong shook his head. Catching on, Xu Ziling flawlessly sighed and said, "As soon as we started, the qi and blood in our body surged; how could we dare to continue?”
Yun Yuzhen found it hard to conceal her disappointment; bowing her head, she was lost in thought for a long time before finally managed to say, "Since you can't train it, we have to make another plan.”
The two boys immediately understood, although Yun Yuzhen said all those good things, the fact was that teaching them qinggong was part of her plan so that they could use it to accomplish their mission. They could not help rejoicing inwardly for not telling her the truth.
Yun Yuzhen sighed again before asking, "Do you know why Dong Ming Pai let them come aboard their ship that day?”
[1] Yellow Springs, underworld in Chinese mythology, equivalent to Hades in Greek mythology.